UCSD’s new facilities provide office space for the growing housing and dining department responsible for on campus catering as well as an 8,000 sq ft catering kitchen and event and meeting space. Located on the southwestern corner of the UCSD campus, the catering facility shares loading space with the campus dining commons and is a key crossroad for campus circulation. The ocean and the coast were direct inspirations for the design and aesthetics of the building.

The lower portion of the structure is composed of board-formed concrete walls made with fly ash. Mirroring the coast, the building makes use of a west stair case reminiscent of ramps common along the San Diego beach bluffs and a pier-like overlook. Transparency and daylighting were the most desired features, but they could not come at a cost of overheating from the sun midday through the afternoon. As a solution, the prominent south and west facades use a high performance glazing system, which is composed of two layers of glass and allows for ventilation to reduce solar heat gain. Otherwise, building features were oriented and designed to improve daylighting or provide shading depending on the location. The facility also features an efficient radiator heating system and displacement air conditioning system that reduces energy use by 25% form conventional air conditioning.